The 4-F's
Family, Finances, Fitness and Food
Every year life changes...with change comes a new outlook and goals. This year the goals include the 4 F's (fitness, food, finances and family). Why choose these? It's time to get a grip! I've been giving advice on all these areas but haven't put my "money where my mouth is" up to this point. So now it's time to put it all out there...well at least in writing at this point.
The joys of living overseas is that the advice that is given (when looking at US websites) are for those that live in the US and are able to obtain those resources. Well, not all of us are able to do that for one reason or another. My case is that I live in the Middle East and no I'm not talking about the Middle of the East Coast in the US, I mean outside of Abu Dhabi/Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. This makes my lifestyle a little different but still in need of an upgrade. So upgrade it shall...once I get off of holiday and back home (the joys of living overseas is that I spend 5-6 weeks on holiday in the US every year so right now I'm enjoying my holiday time).
But what is the first step? Each of these areas are HUGE and can and will overwhelm any one person...much less an entire family. So I'm using the rest of my holiday to break each area down into manageable goals. Will it be easy? No. Will it be fun? Not necessarily. Will it be worth it? Yes, yes it will. When my daughter goes through life without debt. When I finish my first marathon and triathlon. When I am able to completely vacation without credit cards. When food isn't a constant struggle. This next year will set it all up so that I can accomplish this and change my future as well as my daughter's.
So the next few posts will describe how each of these areas will be accomplished but lets look at what the goals are before we figure out how to get there.
1. Family - this year we'll just plan on having 2 meals a week without electronics. Sounds easy right? Well there are just two of us so it's a bit harder than it looks. And of course I'll add to this especially in the area of chores and consistency of expectations and schedules (yep - I may be a teacher but I truly fail at this in my own house.)
2. Finances - get out of debt and start savings to accomplish my long term goals. (So much to say here but I'll leave that to another post but please know I firmly believe in this and want my daughter to have a different financial future than what I currently live).
3. Fitness - to drop my 5k to under 30 minutes, my 10k under 60 minutes and my Half Marathon (13.1 miles) to 2 hours again. (I was close if not at these goals two years ago but now need a lot of work to get it back.)
4. Food - get off sugar and on to clean eating. (This may sound lofty but I firmly believe I can accomplish this but will need support throughout this - and yes that's part of the plan.)
That's it - that's the whole goals. My goal is to put together an action plan for all of these and document it. It CAN happen and it WILL happen but there are going to be problems and reality says that'll happen and it's ok.
The joys of living overseas is that the advice that is given (when looking at US websites) are for those that live in the US and are able to obtain those resources. Well, not all of us are able to do that for one reason or another. My case is that I live in the Middle East and no I'm not talking about the Middle of the East Coast in the US, I mean outside of Abu Dhabi/Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. This makes my lifestyle a little different but still in need of an upgrade. So upgrade it shall...once I get off of holiday and back home (the joys of living overseas is that I spend 5-6 weeks on holiday in the US every year so right now I'm enjoying my holiday time).
But what is the first step? Each of these areas are HUGE and can and will overwhelm any one person...much less an entire family. So I'm using the rest of my holiday to break each area down into manageable goals. Will it be easy? No. Will it be fun? Not necessarily. Will it be worth it? Yes, yes it will. When my daughter goes through life without debt. When I finish my first marathon and triathlon. When I am able to completely vacation without credit cards. When food isn't a constant struggle. This next year will set it all up so that I can accomplish this and change my future as well as my daughter's.
So the next few posts will describe how each of these areas will be accomplished but lets look at what the goals are before we figure out how to get there.
1. Family - this year we'll just plan on having 2 meals a week without electronics. Sounds easy right? Well there are just two of us so it's a bit harder than it looks. And of course I'll add to this especially in the area of chores and consistency of expectations and schedules (yep - I may be a teacher but I truly fail at this in my own house.)
2. Finances - get out of debt and start savings to accomplish my long term goals. (So much to say here but I'll leave that to another post but please know I firmly believe in this and want my daughter to have a different financial future than what I currently live).
3. Fitness - to drop my 5k to under 30 minutes, my 10k under 60 minutes and my Half Marathon (13.1 miles) to 2 hours again. (I was close if not at these goals two years ago but now need a lot of work to get it back.)
4. Food - get off sugar and on to clean eating. (This may sound lofty but I firmly believe I can accomplish this but will need support throughout this - and yes that's part of the plan.)
That's it - that's the whole goals. My goal is to put together an action plan for all of these and document it. It CAN happen and it WILL happen but there are going to be problems and reality says that'll happen and it's ok.
1 comment:
Love these goals! I am working on similar goals this year after a sad breakup with my significant other this summer. I am off to a great, roaring start and look forward to supporting you on your journey and motivating myself in the process!! I didn't realize you were living overseas - you really are a power woman - Go Girl!
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